Every Made Basket in the D3 Men's Basketball Championship Game
These guys can hoop
A lot of the subscribers to this newsletter are youth, HS, and AAU coaches. It’s fun to look at what Duke and the Lakers are running, but oftentimes…you probably just don’t have the players and the skillsets necessary to pull off what those teams are pulling off.
That’s why I enjoy looking at smaller college basketball teams and programs whenever I get the chance.
Sure, you probably don’t have THAT talent either…but it’s a lot closer to what you do have and is likely to be more applicable to the players you coach.
So, what did I do?
I watched the entire Division III championship game between NYU and Trinity, clipped every made bucket and its possession, and put it all in one place for you.
A few things to note with the video:
look at how teams score (both individual skillsets AND actions)
How are players getting open looks?
What actions (and actions behind the actions) are most successful?
What can you steal to use with your team?
drill your players to score within your system and sets so that when they find themselves in specific situations, they are well-equipped to make the proper play
try and pick one thing you can take from each team - whether that’s a play, concept, action, culture piece, etc.
what stood out to me the most was the following:
how well coached both teams are - players played within themselves, they understood off ball cutting responsibilities, they understood what to do with spacing in almost all situations…this was coached
the balance of freedom and structure - both teams allowed their best players to make plays…but within what they were trying to accomplish offensively
high skillsets - both teams had players who could finish in multiple ways, around the room, and on all 3 levels
Okay, let’s take a look at the video - enjoy:
Next week, we’ll be doing something similar with Nova Southeastern (the DII Champs).
P.S. - Whenever you’re ready, there are a few ways I can help you as a coach!
Hoops Companion Master Playbook/Drill Book with over 600 pages of plays and drills
2025 March Madness Playbook - 3 video clips and 3 diagrams from all 68 teams (that’s 408 pieces of winning content)
Join Hoops Companion Extra - for $5/month, you can get 10 links in your inbox EVERY weekend…and a bunch of other great perks.